Outboard motor lift



April 1962 H. J. ANDERSON OUTBOARD MOTOR LIFT 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 2, 1960 Hui flNDE/Pfi a/v INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

April 17, 1962 H. J. ANDERSON 3,029,770

OUTBOARD MOTOR LIFT Filed March 2, 1960 3 Sheets-SheerQ'Z ATTORNEYS April 1962- H. J. ANDERSON 3,029,770

OUTBOARD MOTOR LIFT 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 File d March 2, 1960 i H c/J lvaEpsa/v INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

Uniwd SW68, Pm O Filed Mar. 2, 1960, Ser. No. 12,406 4 Claims. (Cl. 115-41) This invention relates to an outboard motor lift for lifting the motor which normally propels a boat out of the water and holding it in raised position until the boat has either moved into water of suflicient depth or free of obstructions, so that the propeller may safely operate.

The object of the present invention is to provide an outboard motor lift which may be operated to lift the motor out of the water to keep the propeller from becoming snarled in beds of weeds or moss or becoming stuck in mud or sand, when the boat approaches shore in shallow water. i Another object of the present invention is to provide an outboard motor lift for lifting the motor out of the water, which lift can be motivated by the operator of the boat without leaving his seat and going to the rear of the boat.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide an outboard motor lift for lifting the motor out of the water, which lift may be installed in existing boats without any appreciable modification of the boat itself or the outboard motor.

Still other objects, advantages and improvements will become apparent from the following specification; taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view showing the master cylinder of the fluid pressure operated lift. FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view, taken on the section line 22 of FIG. 6 and looking in the direction of the arrows, and showing the master and servo cylinders of the fluid pressure operated lift, and the connection between same.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view, partly in section, showing the servo cylinder of the fluid pressure operated lift,and the outboard motor in normal operating position.

FIG.' 4 is a side elevational View, similar to FIG. 3, but showing the outboard motor in raised position.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view, taken on the section line 5-5 of FIG. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows, and showing the reservoir and master cylinders. FIG. 6 is a sectional view, taken on the section line 6-6 and looking in the direction of the arrows, and a so showing the reservoir and master cylinders.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view through the control valve.

FIG. 8 is a detail sectional view, taken on the section line 8-8 of FIG. 4 and looking in the direction of the arrows, and showing the attachment of the servo cylinder to the outboard motor housing.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and to FIGS. 2 and .5 in particular, an outboard motor boat is here shown at 10, having a transom 11 at its rear, a forward deck 12 over part of its tip, and a dashboard 13 at the rear of the forward deck. Adjacent the bow of the boat there is a partial bulkhead 14, which rises from the hull'ltl. Over the rear face of the bulkhead 14 there is mounted a supporting plate 16, which is secured to the bulkhead 14 by bolts 15. A servo cylinder 18 is secured to the top of the bulkhead 14 and to the supporting plate 16 in any suitable manner. On the top of the servo cylinder. 18 there is mounted a reservoir cylinder 21, which extends rearwardly through a suitable opening in the supporting plate 16. Communi cation between the reservoir cylinder 21 and the servo cylinder 18 is provided by forwardly positioned aligned holes 19 in the side walls of the cylinders and rearwardly positioned aligned holes 20, also in the side walls of the cylinders. On the side wall of the reservoir cylinder 21 and diametrically opposite to the holes 19 and 20 there is formed on the side wall of reservoir cylinder 21 a hollow boss 22, which is closed by a screw threaded cap 23 and forms a filling opening. Both the servo cylinder 18 and the reservoir cylinder 21 are filled with hydraulic brake fluid. The rear end of the reservoir cylinder 21 is closed by a screw cap 24, which has an integral rearwardly extending arm 25. A foot pedal 29 is pivotally mounted at its upper end at 26 on the arm 25. Around the pivot 26 there is placed a coil spring 27, which at one end abuts the arm 25 and at its other end abuts the foot pedal 29 to bias the latter outwardly. Within the servo-cylinder 18 there is recip rocally mounted a piston 33. A connecting rod 30 is pivotally secured to the foot pedal at 28 and extends through a guide plate 31, which is secured to the sup porting plate 16 in any suitable manner, as by spot welding, and through a hole 17 in the supporting plate 16, and is pivotally connected to the piston 33 at 32. Between the closed end of the servo cylinder 18 and the piston 33 there is positioned a coil compression spring 35, which at its inner end abuts a pliable disc 34- on the top of the piston.

The control valve is designated generally at 37 and is shown in FIG. 7. It is comprised by a threaded inlet end 38, a threaded outlet end 40, and a hollow screw threaded boss 39 at right angles to the axis of the ends. The inlet end 38 of the control valve is connected to the closed end of the servo cylinder 18 by a close nipple 36. A screw threaded cap 4-2 closes the hollow boss 39, a gasket 41 being placed between the face of the boss 39 and the inner side of the cap 42. The outlet end 40 of the valve 37 receives a nipple 52. From the inlet end 38 of the valve to the outlet end there extends a generally diagonally positioned web 43, which has a hole 44 therein concentrically positioned With respect to the hollow screw threaded boss 39. A ball 45 is positioned in the hole 44 in the web 43. The inner wall of the hollow boss 39 is formed with a series of downwardly extending circumferentially positioned fingers 46, which surround the ball 45 and form a cage for the latter, constraining it to only vertical movement. On its under side the body of the control valve 37 is convexly formed, both interiorly and exteriorly, to provide space for an operating member for the ball 45. This operating member is comprised by a cam 47, which is mounted on a rock shaft 48, the latter being journalled transversely of the valve body 37 with the cam 47 directly underlying the ball 45. On the outside of the valve body 37 and on one side of same, the

rock shaft 48 carries an arrn49. An operating link 50 is pivotally connected to the arm 49, and extends through suitable aligned holes in the dashboard 13 and a guide plate 51 mounted on the outer face of the latter.

A conduit 54 is connected by a coupling 53 in the nipple 52 in the control valve 37 and extends rearwardly of the boat. Adjacent the transom 11 of the boat the conduit 54- is bent upwardly and adjacent the top of the latter it is connected by a coupling 55 to a flexible conduit 56. This conduit 56 extends upwardly over the top of the transom 11, and downwardly outside the transom, and is connected by a street L 57 to the servo cylinder, to be. later described. p

The outboard motor is designated generally at 60. It has a downwardly depending drive shaft housing 61 at the bottom of which there is rotatably mounted a propeller 62. An arm 63 is integrally formed with the outboard motor housing and extends rearwardly therefrom. The mounting for the outboard motor is comprised in part by a first bracket 65. This bracket abuts the outside 'of the transom 11 and has an extension at 66 which projects forwardly over the top of the transom and downwardly parallel to the inner surface of same. Clamping screws 676 7 (FIG. 1) are mounted in suitably threaded holes (not shown) in the extension 66 and serves to secure the bracket 65 to the transom 11. The arm 63 on the outboard motor housing is pivotally connected to the bracket 65 by a pin 64.

Below the bracket '65 there is a second bracket 70, which is secured to the transom 11 by bolts 71, which extend through the latter. The servo cylinder is comprised by an inner cylinder 74 and an outer cylinder 75 in telescoping relationship. The inner cylinder 74 has an integral tongue 73 at its lower end which is pivotally connected to the bracket 70 at 72. A stabilizing link 69 is pivotally connected to the upper bracket 65 by a pin 68 and also to the lower bracket 70 by a pin 72. The flexible conduit 56, previously described is connected to the inner cylinder 74 through the street L 57. A piston rod 77 is mounted concentrically of the outer cylinder 75, such as by being spot welded to the inner face of the end of the latter, and at its lower end carries a piston 76 which is reciprocally received in the inner cylinder '74. At its upper end the outer cylinder 75 has an integral tongue 78. An arcuate plate 80, having a row of holes 81 along its arcuate center line, is secured at one end to the drive shaft housing 61 and at the other end to the arm 63 on the outboard motor housing, as by fillet welding at 82 (FIG. 8). The tongue 78 on the outer cylinder 75 is pivotally connected to the arcuate plate 80 by a bolt 79. The bolt 79 may be positioned in any one of the holes 81 in the arcuate plate 80 to provide varying degrees of lift of the outboard motor 60 for the same amount of travel of the outer cylinder 75 and the piston 76.

In use, let it be assumed that the outboard motor 60 is in the normal operating position, as shown in FIG. 1. If it should be desired to raise the propeller 62 out of the water, such as either the latter having become snarled in a bed of moss or weeds, or the boat approaching the shore in shallow water, the operator will depress the foot pedal 29. The connecting link 30 will drive the piston 33 forwardly in the master cylinder 18, against the action of the compression spring 35. The opening 20 to the reservoir cylinder 21 will shortly be sealed off. A slight amount of liquid will escape from the servo cylinder 18 to the reservoir cylinder 21 through the opening 19', which is a bleed opening, until the piston 33 passes this opening on its forward stroke. The liquid will be expelled from the servo cylinder 18 through the nipple 36 and enter the control valve 37.

The liquid under pressure enters the control valve 37 through the inlet end 38, raises the ball 45 from the seat 44 and is forced out through the outlet end '40 and the nipple 52. From the control valve 37 the liquid is forced through the conduit 54 and the flexible conduit 56 to the inner servo cylinder 74. The outer servo cylinder 75and the piston 76 are forced outwardly and the outboard motor 60 is swung upwardly, pivoting about the pin 64, and the propeller 62 is lifted from the water.

When it is desired to lower the outboard motor and return the propeller 62 to the water, such as when the boat has 'moved into clear water from moss and weed beds, or away from the shore into deeper water ,,the operator relaxes pressure on the foot pedal 29, if same has not already been released, and pulls onthe rod 50. The rock shaft 48 is partially rotated and the ball 45 is raised from its seat. Theweight of the outboard motor 60 will cause same to swing downwardly, pivoting about the pin 64-, returning the propeller 62 to the water. Liquid is forced from the inner servo cylinder 74 by the downward movement of the outer cylinder 75 and the piston 76, and flows through the flexible conduit 56, the conduit 54, and the control valve 37 to the master cylinder 18. The liquid entering the master cylinder 18 forces the piston 33 back to the normal or inoperative position (FIG. 5) assisted, of course, by the compression spring 35. When the piston passes the bleed opening 19 between the servo cylinder 18 and the master cylinder 21, liquid will flow in small volume from the reservoir cylinder 21 to the master cylinder 18 to lessen the pressure differential between the fluid system and atmospheric pressure and allow more rapid return of the piston 33 to the normal position. When the piston 33 has returned to its normal position it uncovers the opening 20 between the reservoir cylinder 21 and the servo cylinder 18, to allow the replacement in the servo cylinder of any liquid that may have been lost by leakage or any fluid that may not have been returned to the servo cylinder due to the outboard motor not having returned fully to its original vertical position.

Having now fully described my invention, What I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An outboard motor elevating assembly including a bracket for pivotally mounting an outboard motor on the transom of a boat, a second bracket adapted to be secured to the transom of the boat below the first bracket, a first servo cylinder, a first pivotal connection between the first servo cylinder and said second bracket, a stabilizing link pivotally connected to the first bracket and to the second bracket at the point of the pivotal connection of the first servo cylinder thereon, a second servo cylinder in telescoping relationship to the first servo cylin der, a second pivotal connection between said second servo cylinder and the outboard motor, a master cylinder having a piston therein and a foot pedal for operating the piston adjacent the operators position, and a fluid line connecting the master cylinder to one of said servo cylinders.

2. An outboard motor elevating assembly including a 7 bracket for pivotally mounting an outboard motor on the transom of a boat, a second bracket adapted to be secured to the transom of the boat, a first servo cylinder, at first pivotal connection between the first servo cylinder and said second bracket, a second servo cylinder in telescoping relationship to the first servo cylinder, a piston carried by said second servo cylinder and slidable within said first servo cylinder, a second pivotal connection between said second servo cylinder and the outboard motor, a master cylinder having a piston therein and a foot pedal for operating the piston located adjacent the operators position, and a fluid line connecting the master cylinder to one of said servo cylinders.

3. An'outboard motor elevating assembly including a bracket for pivotally mounting an outboard motor on the transom of a boat, a second bracket adapted to be secured to the transom of the boat, a first servo cylinder, a first pivotal connection between the first servo cylinder and said second bracket, a second servo cylinder in telescoping relationship to the first servo cylinder, a piston carried by said second servo cylinder and slidable within said first servo cylinder, a second pivotal connection between said second servo cylinder and the outboard motor, a master cylinder having apiston therein and a foot pedal for operating the piston located adjacent the operators position, a fluid line connecting the master cylinder to one of said servo cylinders and a control valve in said fluid line.

4. An outboard motor elevating assembly including a bracket for pivotally mounting an outboard motor on the transom of a boat, a second bracket adapted to be secured to the transom of the boat, a first servo cylinder, a first pivotal connection between'the first servo cylinder and said second bracket, a second servo cylinder in telescoping relationship to the first servo cylinder, a piston 'cartried by said second servo cylinder and slidable within said first servo cylinder, a second pivotal connection between said second servo cylinder and the outboard motor, a master cylinder having a piston therein and a foot pedal for operating the piston located adjacent the operators position, a fluid line connecting the master cylinder to one of said servo cylinders, a control valve in said fluid line operable by fluid pressure in one direction of fluid flow and manual means adjacent the operators position for operating the control line to provide for fluid flow in the opposite direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Te Pas Jan. 14, 1936 Lovekin Feb. 8, 1938 Langford July 7, 1959 Mickey Mar. 8, 1960 

